


Anything For You

by sugas_socks



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Anxiety, Birthday, Friendship, High School, Love, M/M, Middle School, Moving Away, Moving Out, Secret Crush, University, Volleyball Match, moving in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-19 14:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4750016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugas_socks/pseuds/sugas_socks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story on how two boys adapt to the changes life brings their way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Birthday Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfiction I'm writing and I'm enjoying it a whole lot so I hope it is enjoyable for you too!
> 
> I am going to be updating the characters and ships and tags on this fic as they appear in the story, so I don't spoil anything for you guys.

Daichi had been friends with Suga for a few months now – ever since he had moved house and, incidentally, schools last September – and he was everything a boy could ask for when entering a completely foreign environment on his last year of middle school. Daichi thought several times about how Suga was one of the kindest, most selfless people he had ever met and how lucky he was for being able to call him his best friend. It felt as if they had known each other for years, and every one they met always assumed that that was the case but actually this was the first time Daichi would celebrate Suga’s birthday with him, and he couldn’t be more excited.

When he had had his birthday last December, Daichi invited all of his friends over, including Suga, who spent most of the party sat in his own corner fidgeting incessantly letting himself be approached by other people rather than approaching them himself.

“What’s wrong, Suga?”, asked Daichi after watching him for a while, “Are you not enjoying the party?”.

Suga took his time to answer looking around to see if nobody was listening.

“There’s... It’s just that there are a lot of people here, I- I don’t do well with this many people in the same room.”, he said quietly with his cheeks turning a light pink color.

Daichi was taken by surprise by his friend’s answer, he had never noticed this particularity of Suga’s, but then again they had never been in a similar situation for him to be able to know.

“Do you want to go outside? We-we can go outside if you want to!”

Suga nodded quickly and Daichi took his hand leading him through the room to the back door.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You have been here many times, you know where the doors are, you dummy, you could’ve come outside!”, Daichi exclaimed.

“I-I didn’t want to seem rude, leaving the party on my own..”, Suga retorted.

“I didn’t know it made you uncomfortable.”, Daichi went on to saying, “You have so many friends, don’t you invite them to your house when it’s your birthday?”

Suga did have a whole lot of friends, and he had no trouble making new ones, after all he had won Daichi over at the beginning of the school year when he had absolutely no intention of becoming friends with any one. Suga looked over at Daichi, _‘He has the most beautiful eyes’_ Daichi thought.

“I don’t.. I mean.. My problem isn’t so much the people as it is the crowded space. I-I kind of have to know I have control over the space and that I can leave at any given moment and in crowded rooms that’s hard to achieve.”, Suga said smiling at Daichi, feeling a bit embarrassed, “I also kind of don’t like having people sing “Happy Birthday” to me which makes birthday parties a definite no-no.”

Daichi must have looked surprised: “What’s that look for?”, Suga asked.

“I-It’s nothing.”, he answered looking down at his hands with his most genuine smile creeping up on his lips, “You just keep on surprising me every time, even when I think I know everything there is to know about you.. You always have to have something hidden away from me, don’t you?”

That was one of the things he loved about Suga, with him nothing was ever certain: there were so many things to know about him one couldn’t ever assume to knowing him fully. Suga let one of his smiles shine through and said:

“You’re gonna have to hold on for a while longer if you really want to get to know me!”. _‘That’s definitely my plan’_ , Daichi thought.

The thirteenth on June was closing in on them and because Daichi knew Suga would never plan a birthday party for himself or any form of celebration at all, as a matter of fact, he had decided to plan something for the two of them to do. He had settled for a dinner at their favourite restaurant and then going over to his to watch “I am Number Four”, a film Suga had been talking about ever since he had heard of it. Everything he had planned would for sure make this birthday the best his best friend had ever celebrated. All there was left to do was for Daichi to actually tell Suga about his plans, which he only wanted to do after school on the thirteenth.

When the day came, Daichi was proudly waiting for Suga outside his classroom. When he finally saw him he smiled really wide and excitedly announced:

“Today my dearest Suga, I will be taking you out to dinner and for a movie, at my place, and you, my friend, will have the most epic birthday of your life! Also, you can’t say no to my invitation as it is a one in a kind chance to hang out with your dearest friend of all!”

Suga’s reaction was one he did not expect: he wrapped his arms around Daichi’s neck, hugging him as tightly as he possibly could. Daichi rushed to hug him back quickly putting his arms around Suga’s waist. He then went on to noticing Suga was actually crying out of sheer happiness.

“I-I thought you had forgotten about my birthday, you dumbass!!”

Daichi had been planning ahead for so long he had actually forgotten to wish his friend a happy birthday.

“I’m so sorry!! I was so excited to take you on a date I forgot to actually wish you a happy birthday!”

The one thing Daichi had wanted to omit was put out there for everyone to hear in a matter of seconds. After pronouncing these words, which he clearly hadn’t thought through, he felt Suga pull away from his embrace.

“I-I mean, t-take you out!!! I meant to say take you out!!!”

Daichi’s face was blushed red; he couldn’t believe what he had just said: _‘I’m so dumb!! He wasn’t supposed to know this kind of was a date for me!! It isn’t a date, it’s his birthday we’re just going out to eat. The fact that I may or may not like him a bit too much is a mere detail! Oh my god, am I dumb or am I dumb?!’_.

Suga stared at him for a while, looking more confused than ever and then laughed nervously, “Daichi, is this a date?”, he asked still laughing, “I wouldn’t..”

“No! It most definitely is not a date, I really meant to say take you out! This is not a date!!”, Daichi interrupted looking down at his shoes in an attempt to hide his face, “It’s your birthday, and were going to have dinner as friends! And watch a movie as friends!”

 _‘Wait, was he going to say he wouldn’t mind if it was a date or that he wouldn’t go if it was?’_. Because he was still looking down at his shoes he didn’t notice the masked disappointment in his friend’s face when he said it wasn’t a date.

“Well, I’m glad!”, Suga lied, “Let’s get going! I still need to go home and change!!”

When Daichi finally decided to look up, he was already making his way down the hall, so he followed.

The walk home was like any other day: they spoke of their day at school, laughed at each other’s jokes and mocked each other as they always did. When they finally arrived at Suga’s house Daichi said:

“I’ll come and pick you up at around seven thirty, be ready!!”

He knew Suga would be late either way, so this way he would be ready at around eight which was more than enough for them to get to the restaurant and still have time to watch the movie.

“I will be ready!  Tell your parents you’ll be sleeping over at mine!” Suga said.

This caught Daich off guard, giving him something to worry about until eight. He was planning in walking Suga home after the movie either way, so it didn’t change much except for the fact that he was going to be sleeping at Suga’s. _‘I have slept there several times’_ , he thought on his way home, _‘but this time there’s a chance he noticed I totally have a crush on him, I mean I don’t even know if I do for sure but.. Whatever it probably won’t be that much of a big deal, I know he doesn’t like me anyway, not in **that** way, so I’ll be fine. It’ll be just like every other time.’_

At seven thirty Daichi stood outside Suga’s house, who, surprisingly, was ready in time. He heard him rush down the stairs after knocking on the front door.

“Should we get going right away or do we still have time, mister “always on time”?” Suga smiled at him.

Even though they still had time, they decided to get going so there wouldn’t be as many people in the restaurant (Daichi didn’t want Suga to feel uncomfortable, even though he had already planned on eating at the tables outside the restaurant rather than inside. It was just a matter of prevention in case all of those tables were taken.).

Dinner had gone just as planned and it was time to go over to Daichi’s to watch the film. On the walk there, Suga basically told him the entire plot and every single thing he had gathered in his research (which he always liked to do before watching a movie to make sure it was worth watching. “One shouldn’t waste their time watching crappy films with so many good ones out there to watch!”, Suga used to say).

“Well, thank you friend, for allowing me to sleep for the entire movie, since I already know everything that’s going to happen!”, Daichi said jokingly to Suga, even though he didn’t mind it one bit, he loved listening to him ramble about things he loved: it made his eyes light up like they were the stars in the sky. _‘How can someone be so perfect’_ , Daichi would think to himself, _‘How was I lucky enough to find the prettiest, loveliest boy in the world’_. He had it bad for Suga, he realized.

By the time they arrived at the front door at Daichi’s house, he was pretty sure he knew more about this movie he’d never even seen the trailer for than the boy he was going to watch it with. In his defence he knew _a lot_ about this boy, he was just aware of how he liked to keep some things to himself and how much he liked learning about them. After taking their shoes off, Daichi went to the kitchen to grab some popcorn for Suga and chips for himself since he hated popcorn with a passion.

“I still can’t understand why you hate popcorn so much.”, Suga said from the living room, “Why do you have to be so picky?”

“I’ve told I don’t like the taste of it and the texture isn’t great either!”

“It had to come down to the texture; it always does when it comes to you, Daichi!”

“Shut up and eat your popcorn, let’s watch this movie!”

Suga laughed at Daichi, and the latter faked being mad at him, but that only lasted for five minutes, it always did.

While they were watching the movie, sat on the living room floor leaning against the couch, Daichi dwelled several times on whether he should or could hold Suga’s hand. It was so close to his own. He definitely wanted to, but was worried about Suga’s reaction. This wasn’t a date after all so he probably shouldn’t, but he wanted to so bad. He spent so much time thinking about this and was so deep into his own thoughts he didn’t notice he had been looking at Suga the whole time. He was cutely concentrated on the movie, with a serious frown on his face, but clearly enjoying it nonetheless. After a while he looked at Daichi, who was still looking at him.

“What’s wrong?”, he asked.

“Nothing!!”, Daichi answered clearly flustered, “I was just.. Forget about it!”

Luckily Suga let it go and for the rest of the film Daichi actually decided to focus on the movie instead of Suga. At the end of the movie, Daichi went upstairs to pack a bag to take to Suga’s house and off they went.

***

At Suga’s house they ran up to his bedroom, and sat on his bed talking about the movie and what they thought about it: Suga always liked giving a detailed review about every aspect of the movies they watched. After he went downstairs to pick up the futon on which Daichi was going to sleep, each of them got into their respective beds but they were still talking: they always had something to talk about. Everything was easy when they were together. Right before going to sleep Suga was telling Daichi he wanted to go to the park so they could meet up with some friends in the morning:

“You know I don’t wake up early on the weekend, Suga! Come on, let’s go after lunch, pleaseee!!”

Suga rolled his eyes and said “You’re so lazy Daichi!! Won’t you make my wishes come true? Not even in my own birthday??”

“Tomorrow’s not your birthday anymore, you dummy!!”

“But.. I’m asking you todayyy, pleaseeeeeeeeeee!!”

“ Do you really want to go that much?”, Daichi asked faking being annoyed at him.

“ Yes, I dooo! Will you, Sawamura Daichi, come to the park, _in the morning_ , with your dearest friend of all?”, Suga said sticking his tongue out at Daichi.

“I will..” Daichi said rolling his eyes at Suga and quickly after smiling and throwing his pillow at him, “I hate you, you know that?”

“I know you love me!” answered Suga turning his back on Daichi to go to sleep. ‘I do’, Daichi thought, ‘I really do’.

After silence had settled down in the room, Suga broke it:

“Thanks for not singing “Happy Birthday” to me, Daichi..”

Daichi looked up at Suga’s bed to see he still had he’s back turned to him. In the room’s dim light, he could only distinguish his silhouette and his messy grey hair.

“It’s alright, Suga”, Daichi paused for a few moments, “ **Anything for you..** ”, he finally said so quietly Suga could barely hear it.

“You know I would do anything for you too, don’t you Daichi?”

“I know, you dummy, I know...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter!  
> It was aimed at giving some background on Suga's and Daichi's relationship which I thought was important to then be able to elaborate in the chapters ahead.
> 
> I am thinking of posting the chapters with a week-long interval between them which means I'll be posting the next one on the 14th, so I guess you have that to be excited for! ^^
> 
> I would like to thank my friend flower_tier here on AO3 - and flower-tier.tumblr.com over on tumblr (who you should most definitely check out) - for inspiring me to write this first chapter. Thank you so much!!


	2. First Date

Three years go by without them even noticing. There’s a month left of school after which both Daichi and Suga will leave school to finally go to college. People always describe this time as one of the best and the most exciting one in one’s life. Sugawara couldn’t disagree more. Going off to college would mean leaving all of the great friends he made along his three years of high school, leaving his volleyball team, and above all part ways with his best friend: neither of them was sure of what university they wanted to go to, only that they didn’t want to stay at their parents’ house, which meant moving away. Whenever the subject came up, each of them gave their top three universities to attend to next year, but never admitted to wanting one over the others, probably because of not wanting to talk about eventually having to say goodbye to each other, that way all the possibilities were kept on hold until they were forced to choose.

During these three years they had become closer than ever: together they had accomplished many a thing, the number one being becoming the captain and vice-captain of the Karasuno High volleyball team. Volleyball was their thing. Suga always enjoyed arguing that watching movies was their thing, but he knew it wasn’t, volleyball was.

When they were in their first year they decided to join the club together even though none of them was that great at it (at least it was better than drama club, they thought). That’s why it ended up becoming their thing: even though they weren’t too good at it, the first time they stepped on the court they felt electrified and immediately knew they wanted to get good at it **together**. Daichi immediately showed an aptitude for receiving: he was fast enough to get to the balls just in time and powerful enough to not be shaken by the force at which they were directed towards him. Suga on the other hand had a tougher time at discovering what he was truly good at: he didn’t stand out in the practices but in his first game his coach noticed how he had an incredible game sense and accuracy better than expected for a boy who had only just started playing. Starting from scratch, the two friends would go to the park after every practice to try and improve themselves: Suga would set the ball perfectly for Daichi to spike it, and spike it himself for Daichi to receive it. They made the best in each other stand out.

As a result of becoming closer their relationship as friends obviously stood stronger, but one or two thing had changed: when they were in their first year, Daichi kissed Suga. It was a one-time thing while they were watching a movie and after it none of them tried it again. Suga was way too shy at these things to take the initiative himself and after a while, because they never talked about it, he thought maybe Daichi had lost interest. After all it had been a pretty awkward kiss, but that’s how first kisses were? Maybe? Suga wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to be the one to ask or bring it up in a conversation. Either way nothing like that happened again until they were at the end of their second year. This time it had been something a lot more simple that kissing: while they were walking home one afternoon, Daichi, who always walked with his hands in his pockets because of “not liking them lingering around aimlessly”, decided to actually give his right hand purpose and gently rest the back of it against Suga’s (to make sure he wouldn’t pull away – which he didn’t) and then carefully entwined their fingers together. They both felt comfortable this way which was why holding hands was something they started doing on a regular basis. Even though this was the way Daichi had found to show Suga how he felt (because neither of them were too great at talking about their feelings), Suga took it as a friendly gesture: _‘It has been too long since our kiss to be related to it. It’s something friends that are as close as the two of us do, for sure; it’s as innocent as a hug after winning a match’,_ he thought, even though he wanted for it to mean a lot more. Because of his insecurities he never brought it up just like had happened with the kiss. Now they were in their third year and even though they held hands, Suga wasn’t aware of how much Daichi loved him and Daichi wasn’t aware of how much Suga loved him, and even though there were clear signs of this, neither of them saw them; or maybe they did, but chose to ignore them.

***

Today, Daichi had asked Suga to stay at school with him to help him out with some work they had to do. In a normal day they would have gone to one of their houses but they had stayed at practice until so late, both of their families were already home and they both knew the other wouldn’t get away without having to stay over for dinner and sharing a long conversation with the family, not that any of them wouldn’t enjoy it, but they really had a lot of work to do.  As usual Suga lent Daichi his modern Japanese and English notes and Daichi his math ones. After studying for an hour, they decided it was a good time to head home.

On the walk home, summer rain started to pour. It was nothing but a light drizzle, but rain none the less. Suga loved the rain. Winter was his favorite season of all: he loved snuggling up under a blanket and wearing heavy coats, he liked hot drinks and the snow. Rain in the summer was a miracle in the Miyagi prefecture where they lived which made Suga like it even more. When it rained he always remembered the cheesy movies he had watched with Daichi and how the two main characters kissed in the rain. He knew how cliché it was, but he wished he could kiss Daichi that very moment. The fear of rejection prevented him from doing it which is why instead he decided to hold his hand. He took Daichi’s hand with a soft movement entwining their fingers as they always did, feeling his cheeks turning a light red colour. In response, Daichi smiled at him:

“I knew you would do that, you couldn’t waste your chance of being this cheesy, could you?”, he said lovingly. Daichi would mock him when it was him who initiated it, which would make Suga’s face turn completely red, but he didn’t mind it: he could mock all he wanted, but he never pulled his hand away from his.

It was times like this Suga felt that maybe there was something more between the two of them or space for it to happen. He felt a warm sensation going all through his body, butterflies in his stomach. He couldn’t let the person that made him feel this way get away. He had to know if what he felt was reciprocated.

“Daichi..” he started, he’s face flushing red, “will you.. Will you go on date with me?” He was finally able to spurt out. Daichi stopped in his tracks, looking at Suga astonished. Suga noticed how his hands had started shaking indicating how nervous he was. But in a matter of seconds, nervousness transformed into extreme happiness: Daichi was happy, cloud nine happy, he couldn’t believe what his best friend had just said.  
“Yes! Of course I will!”, Daichi was finally able to say. “And I was thinking you couldn’t make this any cheesier, well done, Suga!”. Daichi always tried to mask nervousness with little jokes, that’s how he coped.

Suga hadn’t planned it this far, even though he was hoping for a yes, he was certainly ready for a no.

“So.. Maybe.. T-tomorrow? Afternoon?”

“Sure!” Daichi tried to say as calmly as he possibly could even though the excitement in his face was more and more visible.

When they reached Suga’s house, which was always the first stop, Suga started climbing up the stairs to his front door, but Daichi grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back into a tight embrace – Daichi normally didn’t take the initiative in displays of affection too often, but Suga certainly enjoyed it when he did. When he finally let go, Suga placed a kiss on his cheek with a smile and said:

“I’ll text you about tomorrow, later, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting!”, Daichi said happily.

“See you tomorrow!”, Suga answered.

Later that day Suga texted Daichi. It was like going back to middle school when they were too embarrassed to speak to each other on the phone.

To: Daichi ^^ (10:30 p.m.)  
I was thinking that for tomorrow we could meet here, at my house.

Daichi texted him back in no time.

From: Daichi ^^ (10:31 p.m.)  
Sounds good to me! At what time would you like me to show up?

To: Daichi ^^ (10:33 p.m.)  
Around a quarter to six, if that’s alright?

From: Daichi ^^ (10:35 p.m.)  
Of course it is! What are we going to be doing?

To: Daichi ^^ (10:36 p.m.)  
You’ll have to find out, it’s a surprise!

From: Daichi ^^ (10:37 p.m.)  
Can you at least tell me whether I need to dress all nice and proper?

To: Daichi ^^ (10:39 p.m.)  
Wow, are your expectations high..! No, there’s no need for that, you dummy!

From: Daichi ^^ (10:42 p.m.)  
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt is that I always have to be ready, when it comes to you Mr. Sugawara! Well, I’ll be there at a quarter to six, then! See you tomorrow!!

Suga still couldn’t believe Daichi had actually said yes to going on a date with him. He was a nervous wreck but extremely excited as well: he was absolutely over the moon with the plans he had made for the two of them.

***

Daichi showed up at Suga’s doorstep the next day, as promised. Suga rushed down the stairs after hearing the bell ring and quickly opened the door for Daichi. _‘He looks incredible’_ , Suga thought as soon as he saw Daichi. He was wearing a blue polo shirt Suga had given him on his last birthday, which Suga thought was sweet of him, beige shorts and a red coat. He quickly had to snap himself out of this as he noticed he was yet to say hello to Daichi.

“Hi!”, Suga said putting on his best smile.

“Hi, you look great!”, Daichi answered blushing a bit.

“You too! Are you ready to go?”

“I would be readier, if you told me where you’re taking me.”, Daichi answered jokingly while he smiled at Suga.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine!!”

“Let’s get going then!”, Daichi said holding his hand out for Suga, “Can’t wait to see what you could possibly have planned for us!”

Suga took his hand and that’s how they walked for twenty minutes until they reached a small beach were they used to go to a lot when they first met.

“The sun sets in just a little bit..”, Suga starts saying, his cheeks flushed red, “I was hoping you would watch it with me.”

Daichi was standing in front of him, facing him with a smile from ear to ear, his cheeks slightly red as well. He leaned in, softly placing a kiss on Suga’s forehead, and just as softly whispering:

“Of course I will, you dummy.”

They sat on the fine sand that covered the beach: Daichi had his legs lying in front of him, his hands behind his back supporting his weight; Suga had his legs crossed, his hands playing with the sand; the sun, setting before their eyes, painted the sky an orange and pink tone. They both sat in silence; nothing was loud enough to be noticeable but the sound of the waves reaching the shore.

“Daichi?”

“Yes, Suga?”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a while now, so I want you to listen to me and don’t interrupt me otherwise I will lose my cool in two seconds.”, he said smiling but with a clear hint of nervousness to his voice. Daichi let out a small laugh but quickly complied with this request.

“I like you, Daichi, like _like_ like. I have liked you for a long time; I might as well say I love you, because I do no matter how serious of a word it is. I love you and there have been times when I thought you loved me back. Like.. Like when we hold hands, or when we kissed that one time, or when you hug me, or just then when we got here and you kissed my forehead. But in a few months thinking that maybe you like me won’t be enough, because we won’t be living close to each other, we probably won’t even be living in the same city, and I love you too much to give up on this thing that we have which is why I need to know whether you feel the same or not. **I would do anything for you** , you know that, but I need to know if I am just imagining things. I want to be with you for as long as I can, and that’s what I plan on doing even if you don’t love me back but I need to know…”, at this point Suga stopped himself because he could feel tears forming in his eyes ready to stream down his face. The thought of losing Daichi was something he couldn’t bear.

He slowly looked at Daichi, who had been quiet for all this time, waiting to hear something. But he didn’t. Daichi just leaned in and laid a small kiss on Suga’s lips. It was the only thing that felt right for him to do, seeing the boy he loved tearing up for not knowing just how much he loved him. He rested his forehead on Suga’s looking directly into his hazel eyes.

“You’re not imagining things, you silly, of course I love you. I love you, Suga. I will always be with you no matter how far away, you hear me? I love you, Suga, please don’t cry.”

That was too late, though. Tears had just started making their way down Suga’s cheeks. Daichi hugged him as tight as he possibly could, trying to comfort him; Suga rested his head in Daichi’s shoulder, who could feel his friend’s breath on his neck.

“I love you, Suga, I really, really do.”, he kept on repeating in his ear. It felt good saying it out loud to Suga after years of only being able to show him.

***

When Suga fully calmed down, the sun had almost set.

“Sugawara Koushi”, Daichi said, “You’re the biggest cry baby I have ever known, and I love you..”

“It isn’t my fault you kept this from me for so long, I couldn’t help but be happy, you dumbass!”, Suga interrupted trying to save himself from how embarrassed he felt.

“I wasn’t finished!”, Daichi retorted.

“Sorry, sorry!”, Suga couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re the _biggest_ cry baby I have ever known, the _cheesiest_ guy to ever walk this earth, and I love you a lot, which is why I want to ask you..”

“The answer is yes”, Suga interrupted yet again smiling a smile he knew Daichi couldn’t resist.

“Oh my god, will you let me do this properly?! You don’t even know what I am going to ask you!”

“You know I do, and the answer is yes so there’s no need for asking. Congrats you just got yourself a boyfriend!”, he said sticking his tongue out to Daichi.

“I hate you”, Daichi sighed.

“I love you too”, Suga said wrapping his arms around Daichi’s neck and leaning in for a kiss.

At this point they were both lying on the sand, Suga on top of Daichi, kissing away the time. Kissing wasn’t awkward anymore; their lips moved together as if they had been doing it for a long time, they could almost plan each other’s moves (probably because they knew each other so well). They only pulled away when they were at loss for breath. When they did Suga smiled at Daichi who, in response smiled back even though he was mesmerized by how Suga’s silver hair looked in that light, reflecting every ray of light as if it was a star itself, looking almost white. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to finally be dating this starry boy and being able to call him his.

***

As it got progressively late, they decided to grab a bite at a café near the beach. Over this improvised dinner, they talked (actually talked) about their plans for next year. Suga expressed his interest in studying art history and Daichi in studying architecture. Neither of them was sure of where they wanted to go to yet (maybe a college with a volleyball team) but both secretly wished that in a few months they would agree to go to the same college to stay together.

Because he knew his parents would already be sleeping, which meant there wouldn’t be any awkward moments, Daichi ended up inviting Suga over to watch a movie: they both lied on his bed for the first time, Suga with his back turned to Daichi who had his hand placed around Suga’s waist. He couldn’t help but planting little kisses on Suga’s neck.

“I hope you know what day it is today”, Suga said quietly at one point.

“It’s the 10th right?”

“May 10th, I hope next year you remember it.”

“Oh my god, Suga, you’re going to kill me with how cheesy you are!!”

“Shut up! You love it when I am like this!”

Daichi planted yet another kiss on Suga’s neck, “I do, I really do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the second chapter! I really hope you liked it ^^
> 
> I am enjoying writing this fic more than I ever thought I would so I'm really happy for the support I've been getting from all of you! Thank you!!!
> 
> As I wrote in the last chapter's notes I'm posting a chapter per week, which means next Monday (21st) the third one will be up!


	3. Saying Goodbye

By the end of August both Daichi and Suga received the letters that would tell them whether they had or hadn’t gotten into the university they had chosen - they had both applied for the Tokyo University of Arts and Suga had already been researching for apartments they could rent together if they both got in. They had agreed to open the letters together, so they met up at Suga’s house the day they received them.

“Are you ready?” Suga asked nervously holding Daichi’s hand.

“Readier than I’ll ever be!” Daichi said, squeezing Suga’s hand a little harder, equally as nervous.

They took a second to look at each other: this was the moment they had been worrying about ever since school ended; even though now they knew they would stay together no matter what, they didn’t want to be apart, they liked knowing they were at a few minutes’ walk away from each other and not several miles away. And this was it, two letters that decided the next few years of their lives.

“3, 2, 1” they counted in unison.

They opened the letters: as soon as they read the results they both stared excitedly at each other. They were moving to Tokyo together. Daichi leaned forward towards Suga, putting his hand on the back of the other boy’s head and laying a small kiss on his forehead.

“We did it! We’re going to Tokyo!” he said while he wrapped his arms around Suga.

Suga hugged him back tightly. He couldn’t believe he was actually moving to Tokyo with his boyfriend.

“I love you” he said quietly, trying to keep himself from crying.

“And I love you.”

They stood there holding each other until Suga’s parents entered the living room.

“I’m guessing it is good news, then?” Suga’s father said.

“Yes, yes it is, Mr. Sugawara!” Daichi said proudly with his arm around Suga’s waist.

“I’m so proud of you two!” Mrs. Sugawara said walking towards them to hug them.

Suga was still speechless: no combination of words could describe how he felt that very moment.

“Have you boys decided on which of the apartments you’re going to rent? We should probably take care of that now!” Mr. Sugawara said.

“Have we, Koushi?” Daichi asked looking at Suga; when they were with Suga’s parents, Daichi always chose to refer to his boyfriend by his given name mostly because he knew how much that annoyed Suga but also because it was a sign of proximity and trust between two people – the boys didn’t really care about this but it made a great impression on the parents.

“Yes, we have!” Suga was finally able to answer with a smile.

To celebrate, Suga’s mother insisted on inviting Daichi’s parents over for dinner. While Daichi called his parents to tell them about the good news and invite them for dinner, Suga called Asahi to know about his results.

“Did you get in?” Suga asked as soon as he picked up.

“Yes, I did, I’m going to Tokyo.”

“You too? Daichi and I are going to Tokyo as well!!”

“Oh, that’s great, congrats to you two.” Asahi answered with barely any excitement or enthusiasm in his voice. Suga obviously noticed this right away.

“What’s wrong, Asahi? You don’t seem too happy..”

“It’s just.. You know.. I am happy I got in, but Nishinoya.. He still has school to finish.. I still haven’t told him, I’m worried he won’t want to keep on dating me.. It’s going to be hard, you know?” Asahi answered sadly.

“Don’t be so negative, Asahi! Of course he will still want to date you, he loves you so much! And he knew this would most likely happen! Of course it is going to be hard, but you too are strong together, I know you’ll pull through! Just call him, talk to him, you’ll see! Everything is going to be okay!!”

Daichi overheard the conversation, once he finished talking to his parents. He felt so lucky for having Suga as his boyfriend. He was always so supportive of all of his friends and always had a need for making everything alright for everyone. Daichi loved that about him. He rested his arms on Suga’s shoulders and placed a kiss on the side of his head. He felt so proud of him for just being who he was.

“My parents will be here in 20 minutes.” he said after Suga hung up.

“It’s going to be a fun night!”

***

The day after, the whole team got together to say goodbye to their third years. Everyone one was moved to tears, after the speech Daichi gave nominating Ennoshita as the new team captain.

“I’m sure I speak for each and every third year in this team when I say I wish I could stay at Karasuno just for the joy of going to practice every day and spending time with you guys. I feel like over this last year especially, our team evolved in ways I couldn’t imagine possible and I am sure our new captain will do his best to make this team reach the top. I am very, very proud of all of you for being such great players, for never giving up and for always putting this team first.”

Suga noticed how Daichi was almost crying and reached for his hand to let him know he wasn’t alone. Suga always felt proud of Daichi for being such a great captain. No one could keep their eyes off of him whenever he spoke. He knew how much every member of that team admired his boyfriend and he admired him just as much. He also loved the paternal tone his voice acquired whenever he spoke about his team. He knew Daichi wasn’t too comfortable with public displays of affection, but he couldn’t help himself from taking Daichi’s hand and placing a small kiss on the back of it. This made Daichi look at Suga who motioned with his mouth “Look at them.”.

The second and first years sat on the floor of the gymnasium looking up at the third years who stood in front of them. In the back row sat Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kageyama and Hinata: to everyone’s surprise Tsukishima was actually close to tears and Yamaguchi was handing him a tissue; Hinata was hiding his face in Kageyama’s chest, who had his arm around Hinata and was also crying although in a little more controlled fashion. In front of them sat Tanaka, Nishinoya, Ennoshita and the other second years: all of them were trying their best not to cry, but failing miserably.

This sight made Daichi feel even more moved but still he managed to keep himself from crying.

That day, in that gymnasium, many promises were made: The third years promised to come back as often as possible to check on the team and maybe train with them from time to time; Kageyama promised Suga he would make the best in every spiker stand out as best as he could; Hinata promised Asahi he would work harder to become an ace as great as him, and promised his captain and vice-captain he wouldn’t let Kageyama go back to being “The King of the Upper Court”. No one doubted these promises and all the others. They all trusted and knew each other well enough to know all of them would be kept.

***

Both Suga and Daichi would be starting classes at uni at the beginning of October which is why they decided they would be going to Tokyo a couple of weeks earlier in order to organize the house and settle in.

A week prior to their leaving Daichi called Suga in the middle of the night.

“Daichi..” Suga said as he answered the phone with a sleepy voice, “Is everything okay?”

“No, it isn’t” Daichi answered. _‘He’s crying’_ Suga realized. This realization fully woke him up.

“Babe, tell me what happened, you’re worrying me! Are you okay?”

“Do you remember when I told you my grandma wasn’t doing too well?” _‘On no’_ Suga thought, _‘Please don’t tell me that she..’._

“She got worse; my parents had to go to the hospital with her just now.” Suga felt relieved but he also knew what this could mean.

Daichi’s grandma had been living with them for the last year, since Daichi’s grandfather had died. She had been getting progressively worst and it was one of those cases in which the doctors could do nothing to help. Until the beginning of the summer holiday she had been able to stay at home by herself which meant Daichi’s parents, who had a restaurant together, could go to work every day. Suga remembered when Daichi told him that if she got any worst he might have to start skipping practice to help his dad with the restaurant while his mother stayed at home taking care of his grandma. Thankfully that hadn’t happened.. Until now.

“I’m so sorry babe.. Does that mean..?” Suga asked carefully. Daichi started crying even harder. This broke Suga’s heart, he couldn’t think of anytime he’d seen or heard Daichi sobbing this hard.

“I don’t know yet.. I have to talk to my parents tomorrow.. But I’m afraid so..”

“Daichi, I can wait for you. I can stay here and help and we’ll reapply next year, I don’t mind it, I really don’t..”

“You know I won’t let you do that.”

“But..!”

“Suga, that’s not even an option.”, Daichi was firm in the way he said it and Suga expected nothing other than that answer from his boyfriend.

“Daichi, please..”

“Please, don’t fight me on this, I feel touched that you would even consider it but you don’t know how bad I would feel for keeping you here. I know how much you want to go to Tokyo, Suga, I love you too much to allow you to do such a stupid thing.” The sadness in Daichi’s voice as he said it was clear and Suga didn’t want to make him feel worse than he already did.

“Babe, we’ll talk this through tomorrow, okay? You need to get some sleep. I’ll come over tomorrow morning. It’s going to be okay, we’ll figure this out. I love you, you hear me?”

“I love you too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

***

When Suga arrived at Daichi’s house the next morning, no one answered the door. He guessed Mr. and Mrs. Sawamura were probably still at the hospital and Daichi had to be asleep - it was the weekend after all. Suga decided to take the key they always left in the vase on the windowsill (because Daichi always forgot to take his own when he left in the morning) and let himself in. Just as he had suspected Daichi was still sleeping upstairs.

Suga decided to make Daichi some tea – he had learnt long ago that even though from looking at Daichi one would easily assume he was a coffee type of guy, he wasn’t – and wake him up so they could go out for lunch since it was already one o’clock. Suga was able, for once, to not let the tea spill everywhere when taking it upstairs. When he arrived in Daichi’s room, he put the tea cup down on his bedside table and sat on the side of the bed.

“Time to wake up, Daichi..” he said softly running his fingers through Daichi’s hair. Daichi turned around to look at Suga.

“It’s you.. What are you doing here?”

“I told you yesterday I was coming over in the morning, it’s already lunch time, babe, I was thinking we could go out and have something to eat. Here I made you a cup of tea.”

“Thank you..”

“ **Anything for you**!” Suga said putting on his best smile. He had made it his mission to cheer Daichi up no matter what.

“I don’t know if I feel like going out, though.. Is it okay if we just have lunch here?”

“Of course it is, it’s perfectly fine! I’ll go downstairs and try to make something”

“No, that’s not necessary!” Daichi said partly for not wanting to trouble is boyfriend but also because he was aware of Suga’s nonexistent cooking skills. “We’ll do that together in a bit.” He said lifting the covers for Suga to climb into bed with him.

“Daichi, it’s already lunch time!”

“Come on, let’s have a cuddle, I need it.. It’s just five minutes.. Please..” Suga couldn’t argue with that.

He climbed in under the covers, giving Daichi a little kiss.

“How do you feel today?” he asked with his forehead against Daichi’s, their hands entwined between the two of them.

“Sad about you leaving and worried about my nan..”

“That means you already talked to your parents, right?”

“Yeah.. I’m sorry, Suga.. I’m really, really sorry for not going with you..”

“Babe, you know it’s not your fault, we can’t control these things, and next year you’ll reapply and we’ll do everything as we planned. And we’ll get through this year! I’ll come visit you any time I am able to.”

“You promise?”

“Of course I do! And you know what I was thinking? Your parents won’t be re-opening the restaurant until the beginning of October, right?” Daichi nodded “We can still go to Tokyo together! We’ll leave on the fifteenth like we had planned and we’ll spend those two weeks together until you have to get back! What do you think?” Daichi’s face lit up with enthusiasm. 

“I think you’re the most wonderful person I know! I think you’re the best boyfriend in the whole wide world and I think we’re going to Tokyo!” he said excitedly with the smile Suga loved so much taking over his features.

“That’s settled then!” Suga said smiling into Daichi’s chest when he pulled him closer to hug him.

“I love you so much, Suga.” Daichi answered softly into Suga’s hair, with a voice so tender Suga thought he could melt.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the third one! I hope everyone is still enjoying this fic!
> 
> Next chapter will be up on the 28th!! ^^
> 
> Thanks a lot for all the support!! It really means a lot!


	4. Moving Out and Moving In

Suga is as always doing everything last minute: he agreed to meet in Daichi’s house in thirty minutes and most of the things he’s planning on taking to Tokyo are yet to be packed, messily arranged into piles on his bedroom floor. He feels glad that this time around the majority of things he’s taking are clothes – a few days earlier he had gone to Tokyo in order to get most of the furniture in the apartment. He hears a knock on the door followed by a soft “May I come in?”.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t we agree to meet at your house?” he says surprised to see Daichi leaning against the door frame.

“I knew you would probably need all the help you could get.” Daichi said mockingly.

“Come on there’s no way in hell you could know!”

“I just know you too well, Mr. Sugawara! What do you need me to do?”

“Well.. Now that you’re here.. Do you mind getting those books in my backpack?” Daichi immediately got to work.

When Suga was finally done with packing, Daichi helped him take the bags downstairs and get them in the boot of the car. They said goodbye to Mrs. Sugawara, which put Suga on the verge of tears, and got in the car with Suga’s dad – he had insisted in driving them to the train station. They drove to Daichi’s house to pick up his bags and say goodbye to his parents.

“I’ll be back in two weeks, mom, there’s no need for this!” Daichi said slightly embarrassed when he’s mother started crying.

“I know, sweetie, but still..”

Whilst Daichi was taking care if calming his mother down, Suga was outside, help Daichi’s dad putting his boyfriend’s bags in the boot while his own father waited inside of the car. When Daichi came out the door he noticed he was holding a box.

“What’s that box?”

“Hmm.. I-I wasn’t able to fit somethings in my backpack so.. yeah..” Daichi answered awkwardly “Ready to go?” He asked right after trying to change the subject. Suga noticed but decided to let it go.

“I just have to say goodbye to your mom and then I’ll be ready!”

Daichi’s parents wished them good luck as they got in the car. Next stop was Asahi’s house; he had managed to find an apartment for himself relatively close to theirs so it only made sense they made the trip to Tokyo together. When they arrived at his house, they quickly got out of the car to help him with his bags and say quick goodbyes to his parents. To their surprise Nishinoya was also there. He hugged the captain and vice-captain and kissed Asahi goodbye, making him promise to come back as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Nishinoya couldn’t go to Tokyo because for him school started on the twenty-first and his parents hadn’t agreed to let him go for 5 days.

When they finally arrived at the train station, Mr. Sugawara promptly helped the boys with their bags. He shook Asahi’s hand wishing him luck and also Daichi’s.

“Please stop by our house when you get back so we know you got home safely.” He said pulling Daichi in for a hug. Suga’s dad was mostly a quiet man, but very loving just as his son and to him Daichi was already a part of the family.

“I will, Mr. Sugawara.” Daichi promised smiling.

It was then Suga’s turn.

“I’ll miss you, dad.” Suga said hugging his father.

“And I’ll miss you. Call us if you need something!!”

“I will” Suga answered “Love you.”

“Love you too.” His dad answered sweetly “Off you go, boys, have fun!” He said turning to the other two.

The train had just arrived; they rushed in, found their seats and waited for the train to leave the station. They all sat quietly for the first five minutes: the feeling of leaving home and all the others associated to it were overwhelming, more for Asahi and Suga than for Daichi, because he knew he was coming back in no time. He realized this soon enough so he reached over to Asahi to put a hand on his shoulder and held Suga’s hand with the other.

“You’re going to be fine, you guys. Don’t look so worried!” he said smiling as wide as he could.

The other two smiled back at him. In just a few hours they were going to be in Tokyo and the excitement associated to that made them forget their worries. Daichi was right: they were going to be fine.

***

After the three friends arrived in Tokyo and dropped their things off at their respective apartments (which were in the same street), they decided it was a good time to explore their new surroundings: down the street there was a small, welcoming-looking coffee shop and a grocery store which was handy; two blocks away, there was a park and on the way there they spotted a few restaurants. After hanging around in the park for a while, it was time to head back. Suga wanted to drop by the coffee shop to try it out and so they did: Daichi was very pleased with it because of the wide range of tea that they actually served and also the cupcakes (!!)they even had his favorite: blueberry cupcake.

Around ten o’clock, Daichi and Suga dropped Asahi off at his and went back to their apartment. It was incredibly spacious looking even though it wasn’t big at all: the living room was the first thing visible to the left once one came through the door – the TV hung on the wall, two sofas facing it and a bookshelf against the wall next to the TV clustered with books of all kinds; to the right there was a small kitchen separated from the rest of the house by the half walls that were only as high as the counters in it; the dining room, right next to the kitchen, had a square table that could hardly fit four people; the only rooms separated from the other by “all the way up” walls were the bedroom and the bathroom. The bedroom was Suga’s favourite room: he’d managed to get a sofa in there (which he loved) and was able to create a nice little space for his desk; he had hung some photos up on one of the walls but still felt like it was incredibly empty. He had a plan to fix that, though.

“Tomorrow we need to find a hardware store!”

“What could you possibly need from a hardware store, Suga?” Daichi asked surprised.

“Paint.”

“Why on earth do you need paint?”

“Remember I told you I wanted to do something to my bedroom? I’m going to paint it and you’re going to help me!”

***

The next morning Suga woke up a lot earlier than his boyfriend, as per usual. Before getting out of bed he placed a kiss on Daichi’s forehead, who responded in a murmur, in a low raspy voice, something Suga couldn’t grasp.

He got up and headed to the kitchen: he placed his laptop on the dining table and turned it on, and started making his morning coffee – he couldn’t go through the entire day without it. He decided he would make some pancakes to surprise Daichi – even though he was a poor cook he refused to give up on cooking, after all about every human alive was able to do it, so he could too. In all actuality he was just too proud to admit to not being able to cook.

He made the mix and mixed it thoroughly. By now Suga had already mastered the first steps; it was when the “putting-batter-on-the-pan-and-flipping-pancakes-over-the-stove” part began that he always messed up. And this time was no exception whatsoever.

Daichi woke up to a loud “BAM!” and a “SHIT!” from Suga. He immediately got up and stormed out of the bedroom to see his boyfriend and the floor around him covered in pancake mix, the bowl on the floor and was that SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE STOVE??? Suga was in a frantic search for the button under all that pancake mix that would turn the stove off, so Daichi rushed over to help him. They found it and, after they opened the windows, the smoke quickly dissipated. Only then did Daichi get a chance to actually look at Suga: He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of him covered in pancake mix with a look of astonishment on his face as if he wasn’t able to process where it could have all gone so wrong.

“This is an all-time low for you, Suga!” he said entertained.

“Shut up!!” Suga couldn’t help but laugh either thinking about how ridiculous he must have looked. “I was trying to make you breakfast!”

“Maybe I should be in charge of that from now on” Daichi answered smiling, pulling Suga towards him so he could hug him. “Dear god, you look amazing like that!”

“Will you please shut up? I hate you!!”

Daichi took a bit of batter off of Suga’s face with his finger and tasted it.

“It actually tastes quite nice! I think you might have had it this time if this mess hadn’t happened!”

“Oh my god, shut up! I don’t even want to talk about this anymore. I’m gonna go have a shower, I’ll clean this up once I’m done, don’t worry!” Suga said smilling and placing a kiss on Daichi’s lips “Good morning, by the way!”

“Good morning” Daichi answered.

Once Suga was in the shower, Daichi cleaned up the kitchen as fast as he could – because he couldn’t stand leaving that mess unkept – and went to the coffee shop down the street to grab something for them to snack on. When he got back Suga was already sat at the dining table searching for hardware stores close by. When he sat next to him, Suga kissed his cheek, thanking him for cleaning up the kitchen. Over breakfast, they decided they would go to a store a few blocks away from their apartment and find a restaurant around that area so they could have lunch afterwards. 

They called a taxi over to their apartment that took them to the store. Suga was able to find the exact colors he wanted: Karasuno black and orange. He also bought brushes, a plastic sheet to cover the bedroom floor, tape for the switches, trays and stencils for the letters F, L and Y.

When they finally arrived in the apartment, after lunch, Suga was eager to start painting; however, Daichi had other plans.

“Suga can’t we do that tomorrow? Please, my feet really hurt!” Daichi wined.

“You’re such a liar, we barely even walked!! No, we can’t, let’s get it done today!!”

“Can’t we do it later? “A Game of Shadows” is on today… Please!!” Daichi knew how much Suga loved Sherlock Holmes. “Come here, lay down with me..” he said from the sofa.

“That is cheating, Daichi..” Suga answered playfully, walking towards the couch.

“I know, babe, I know.. But I promise we will do it after dinner!”

“Thank you..” Suga said while he laid down next to Daichi.

The two boys ended up falling asleep just half an hour into the film. When Daichi woke up, before his boyfriend for the first time ever, it was already 7 p.m.. He tried to get up without waking Suga up – he always looked so pretty and peaceful when he slept, his silvery hair falling over his face messily, his lips forming a little pout – but his arm was under his body, and their legs entwined, which made it utterly impossible.

The only option was to wake Suga up, so Daichi stated by placing careful kisses on his neck moving up to his cheeks, making his way to his lips. That wasn’t how he had planned it at first but he got a bit carried away, it was hard not to. When Suga woke up, he kissed Daichi back, with a smile forming on his lips and his cheeks turning a subtle red: sometimes Suga wondered whether that would ever not happen; kissing Daichi was still pretty surreal to him even though they had been together for months now.

After cuddling and kissing for a while, Suga let Daichi get up.

“Can we paint now?” Suga said. “Actually, let’s order something first. What do you feel like?”

“Pizza. Can you order? I’ll go ahead and start clearing the room and putting the tape around the things and stuff!”

“Sure thing!”

Suga ordered banana pizza for himself and the simplest one for Daichi, because he knew how weird he was with toppings that weren’t cheese and ham. When the pizza was delivered Daichi had everything ready for them to start. Suga picked the paint brush, smeared it on the orange paint tray and started coloring the white wall. Daichi sat on the floor, eating, with his back against the bed to face the wall Suga was painting.

“Out of everything you could do to that wall, why this?” Daichi asked not because he didn’t know why but because he wanted to hear it from Suga. He felt like the reason was way too important to not be said out loud.

“You know why, you dummy.” Suga answered.

“I do. But I.. I want you to tell me.” Seeing his boyfriend taking care of his own house, trying to make it look as if it was a home, made him realize how he wouldn’t be there to watch him every day like he was now, building this new life and that made a range of feelings take over him, and Suga noticed it as soon as this words left his mouth so he complied to the request made.

“Well, it may look childish to decorate my room, in my own house, in the city where I am going to college for at least the next three years with a theme related to my high school volleyball team. And you may think that a year or two from now I’ll be over high school and that I won’t remember half of the names of the people that I met along those three years and that playing volleyball won’t feel as empowering or as freeing as it does now, but I refuse to agree. I refuse to forget, I refuse to move on from the people I love the most. Karasuno High was where I met some of the best people in my life: my closest friends, my boyfriend, and I don’t want that to change. I want them to stay close and I want to stay close to them. I won’t write names or numbers on this wall: I’ll use the colors that made us one and the word we lived by during those three years. I’ll print out the pictures I have of the team and put them on this wall, and every day I’ll look at those pictures and remember all of you and once you come here to live with me, you will too. This will be the support I’ll have for when the going gets tough: the memories of when I was the happiest around the people I love. It will be a reminder that I am not alone and that everyone one is a few hours away or, if needed, a phone-call away.” At this point Suga had stopped painting and was looking at Daichi as he spoke. “I won’t ever be alone if I remember _our_ team, not ever. None of _us_ are.” He said sitting down next to him to hold him: Daichi had started crying a while ago and Suga had no idea of how he was managing not to. “Please don’t cry, babe, I hate seeing you like this.” His boyfriend tried answering him but couldn’t because of how he was sobbing. “Look at me” Suga said putting his hands on Daichi’s face, making him look at him. “I love you, Daichi.” He paused for a little while and then said in a whisper “I hope you are aware that this moment makes you the _biggest cry baby_ in this relationship, you take the crown.” This made Daichi chuckle and get his cries under control.

“I hate you, Suga. Let’s get this wall done?” he said after fully calming down.  

“Let’s.”

The two got up and picked up their brushes. Daichi got revenge on Suga mocking him immediately by painting is entire back orange. Suga didn’t hesitate when he painted Daichi’s front orange as well when he leaned in for a kiss. They then got to actually painting: When they finished the second coat of orange Daichi did the necessary measurements so that the letters were all at the correct level, applied the stencils and his boyfriend colored them black.

“I’m happy with that”, Suga said when they sat on the bed after finishing up.

“We won’t be able to sleep here without asphyxiating from this smell, though..” Daichi answered letting out a little chuckle.

“I call dibs on the big sofa!” Suga said getting up to run to the living room.

“No way!! I’ll sleep on top of you if I need to!!!” the captain answered running after him.

***

After having slept the whole afternoon they ended up listening to music on Suga’s laptop, because he didn’t have a stereo, and reading until two in the morning. Daichi was reading “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” because Suga had insisted he did after they watched the movie (which Suga disliked because he didn’t feel it put across important aspects, that the book did brilliantly) and Suga was reading a book on Vincent Van Gogh’ life. He gave up after a while, though, and laid his head on Daichi’s lap:

“How are you enjoying the book? Better than the movie, right?”

“I didn’t dislike the movie, but the books pretty cool as well. I’m getting tired though.. Your head’s hurting again?” He asked when he saw Suga massaging his own temples.

“Kind of, yes..” He knew he probably needed glasses but couldn’t bother going to an optometrist because he didn’t want to have to wear glasses and contacts seemed like hell to him. “Can we go to sleep?”

“We can.” Daichi answered putting the book down on the coffee table. “I’ll go and get us some blankets.”

When he got back, he laid down with Suga and covered the two of them up in the blankets.

“I really liked today.. I wish I wasn’t staying for just two weeks..” he started.

“I hope you’re not going to start crying again.” Suga said challenging him.

“Oh my God, why am I dating you, can you please remind me? You’re the worst!”

“First of all, how dare you?! Second of all, I’m the cutest and also the better looking guy you know. Thirdly, you’re not staying here just yet; next year and the year after and honestly forever, if you want to, we’ll be together, every day, okay? And even this year, we’ll see each other as often as possible and talk every day. There’s no need to worry, or be sad, _or cry like the gigantic baby that you are_.” Suga replied throwing a smile at Daichi.

“I hate you.” Daichi said kissing him.

“Don’t worry” Suga said pulling away “That feeling is mutual.”

Daichi answered with a gasp only, pulling Suga closer to him to tickle him. Suga immediately started giggling and trying to escape his boyfriend’s arms frantically.

“I’ll stop if you apologize.”

“I’ll never…” He couldn’t finish what he was saying because Daichi intensified the tickling. “OKAY! OKAY!” Daichi stopped for a little while to let him speak. “I love you, you’re the best, you’re perfect, you’re the best spiker in the world also the best receiver, I love you. Is that okay?”

“I don’t know.. Do you mean it?”

“I don’t!” Suga said laughing out loud.

“You’re lucky I am sleepy, because I would tickle you again!”

The both cuddled up to each other drifting quickly to sleep.

“I love you” Suga said in a whisper. Daichi answered with a small chuckle and placed a kiss on Suga’s neck.

“I love you too, dummy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the fourth one!! Hope everyone is still enjoying this fic ^^
> 
> I hope I can keep on keeping up with the schedule!! I’ll do my best so that the next one is up next morning as usual!! (5th of October)
> 
> Thanks for all the support!! I really appreciate it ^^


	5. Always Here

It was the twenty-ninth of September. Daichi was packing his clothes from the wardrobe in Suga’s bedroom to his suitcases, his books from the bookshelf to his backpack. Suga stood leaning against the door and watched him while he did it. He’d offered help but Daichi had refused, he didn’t like troubling him. He was leaving the next morning. They probably wouldn’t see each other until Christmas and the thought of that was almost unbearable.

Suga noticed the box he’d seen Daichi put in the trunk of his car the day they left home on the corner of the living room.

“Be sure you don’t forget to take that box of yours, babe. It’s been sitting in that corner ever since we arrived.”

“Oh, actually I’m not taking that back with me..” Daichi answered letting out a small laugh, “It’s a little ‘see you later’ or ‘until next time’ gift for you..”

“Are you for real? Daichi!! You didn’t have to!! I didn’t get you anything!!” Suga replied a little annoyed but curious at the same time.

“Well, you’re the one who’s staying, so you don’t have to give me anything!! Come on, I’m almost done with this, we’ll open it in a bit.” Daichi said.

Suga went over to the living room to pick up the box. _‘This is kind of heavy, what could it be?’_ he thought to himself. “I really hope you didn’t waste too much money on this, Daichi! I will kill you if you have!!” he said loudly so Daichi could hear him from the bedroom.

When he reentered the bedroom Daichi had already closed his bags and was sat on the floor leaning against the bed.

“Come and seat here.” he told Suga pointing to the floor right in front of him. Suga complied and sat, with his legs crossed, so close to Daichi their knees touched each other. “I hope you like it!” he said smiling to Suga, leaning towards him to give him a small kiss.

Suga then proceeded to open the box: it was filled to the top with little papers folded in half, that after opening three or four he conclude all said “I love you”, and under them, a cd player (Yes, an actual cd player!!!), the one he’d been eyeing forever but never got around to buying.

“Oh my God, Daichi, you’re unbelievable, thank you so, so much!!” Suga said jumping swiftly to Daichi’s lap with his arms wrapped around his neck. “I love it, you’re amazing, thank you so much!!” he could barely contain his excitement.

“I’m glad you like it!” Daichi said content with himself. “Now you can actually play the cd’s you buy instead of just keeping them on a shelf!” he said jokingly.

Suga was the type of person that couldn’t bring himself to just buying music online. He liked the idea of having a physical representation of what he listened to instead of a virtual file. Just like he liked dvd’s and books. Since his last computer had stopped working he’d upgraded to one without an incorporated cd player which made him have to download the music whether he bought the cd’s or not. Well, not anymore.

“Let’s try it!” Suga said with a smile on his face so wide it made the corners of his eyes crinkle. Daichi loved that he was the one to cause it.

The two set up the system on top of Suga’s bookshelf in his room. For twenty minutes the two danced to their favorite songs, the kind of dance that was too embarrassing to ever leave those four walls, with awkward and carefree movements and kisses whenever they got close enough to each other. They ended up collapsing on the bed laughing, slightly flustered and curling up together falling asleep to “All my Loving” by The Beatles playing on the background.

***

The next morning, Daichi woke up to Suga planting small kisses all across his shoulders. Suga had been watching him sleep since he’d woken up, afraid that if he moved he might wake him up. Suga didn’t want that... He wished Daichi would sleep past the time the train left the station, so he could have at least one more day with his boyfriend. Thinking of living alone for two or three months in the house he was supposed to share with him made him ache, but he knew Daichi had no choice, and that he was leaving for something important that he couldn’t walk out on.

“Babe, what are you doing?”

“How long ago did you wake up?” Suga said surprised to hear him, laying his head on Daichi’s pillow so he would face him.

“Just now.. You can continue you know? I wouldn’t mind it if you woke me up like that every day.” he answered teasingly.

“I will continue... until the taxi’s downstairs waiting for us.” his boyfriend replied in a playful tone, placing his lips on Daichi’s before moving towards his back again.

Suga made sure he didn’t leave an inch of his boyfriend’s broad back unattended: he started off on Daichi’s left shoulder slowly making his way to the right one. The next two months were going to be hard, not waking up by his side, spending the day with him, Suga thought to himself. The house would probably feel too empty for him to ever be able to call it a home and it would always be way too cold since Daichi was the only one with a good temperature perception; for Suga there was no such thing as too cold. The sound of Daichi whistling the last song Suga had become obsessed with wouldn’t feel the rooms.

“Can I ask you something?” Daichi asked out of the blue, as Suga made his way down his back causing shivers all up and down his spine, making his muscles contract from time to time.

“Of course.”  His boyfriend answered sitting up on the bed, when he started doing the same.

“I want you to do something for me, while I’m away.” They were now sitting in bed, facing each other, Daichi holding Suga’s hands, looking down at them, tracing lines with his fingers on the palm of them – he adored Suga’s hands. “I know that were going to talk to each other every day, and I know you’ll always keep me posted on everything that’s happening and I’ll do the same. But I… Do you remember my parents’ letters? The ones I showed you?”

“The ones your father sent your mom when he was away?” Suga asked, as Daichi entwined their fingers.

“Yes… I want us to do the same. I know it won’t be of much use but, you know, in ten years I won’t remember any of the calls or texts you sent me, and I want to remember. I want to have something like my parents letters, something that no matter how much time goes by I can read back and feel glad for.” Only as he finished saying this did he look at Suga, “What do you think? Like, one week I’ll send you a letter, and the next week you’ll send me one. I bet this sounds so dumb, I’m so sorry.” He said with a hint of bright red spreading through his cheeks – he knew Suga was aware of how he couldn’t help but be somewhat old-fashioned when it came to certain things, most commonly relationship related things, and even though he liked being that way he still felt as if it might be sometimes considered out of place.

“Don’t be! It doesn’t sound dumb; I would love to do that!” Suga answered, holding Daichi’s chin so he could kiss his lips softly, “It’s a great idea, babe. I’ll start!” he then said enthusiastically with a wide smile. Daichi could ask for nothing else: even though it was something really simple, it really meant a lot to him.

Because they still had about an hour before the taxi arrived, they climbed back under the covers for a last cuddle session. Daichi didn’t know how he was going to survive without these. The last couple weeks were everything he could’ve asked for and more. Going back to his parents’ house seemed so dull and doleful without his boyfriend. But he knew he had no choice and he wasn’t mad about it, he would never turn his back on his family, but he couldn’t help but feel sad.

The taxi arrived and they were driven to the train station. When they got there, the train was just arriving so the goodbyes had to be quick.

“Promise me you’ll call me when you get home.” Suga said.

“I will, don’t worry about it. I love you, you know that?” Daichi answered.

“I do, and I love you. Say hello to your parents for me.”

“I will, I will. I’ll miss you so much.” Even though Daichi hated public displays of affection in crowded places he totally ignored that then and there. He hugged Suga as tight as he could, kissing his neck, ignoring the passers-by that looked at them indiscreetly.

“I’ll miss you too, babe. We’ll be together in no time, don’t worry.”Suga said pulling away only enough to be able to look Daichi in the eyes, as he held his face between his hands. Daichi didn’t hesitate in giving him a passionate kiss, “The train will be leaving in no time, you have to go!!”

“I love you, Koushi.” Daichi answered kissing him yet again, with the same fiery passion as before. Suga smiled.

“And I love you, dummy. Bye..!” He said holding back the tears he felt forming in his eyes. He was not going to cry. He knew how much harder it would be for Daichi because of how he was not only being kept from moving away but also from studying what he wanted to study, to become something he wanted to be.

“I’ll see you soon.” Daichi mouthed as he got in the train, after letting go of Suga’s hand.

***

The weeks that followed Daichi's leaving were hard on Suga. He found himself waking up every morning and looking to his boyfriend's side of the bed in hope of finding him there. When he didn't, and if it wasn't too early he'd call him, still in bed, to tell him he missed him and to wish him a good day. If for any reason Daichi didn't pick up, he'd leave him a voice mail either way, to which Daichi would answer as soon as he noticed it.

First week of college was, thankfully, not too hard on him. It consisted of various open classes from which he could choose to attend. He met some older students, who all seemed really nice and even offered to show him around. Apparently, the first week was like this every year for all students - he couldn't help but daydream about doing it again with Daichi the following year, and that made him feel a little better. They told him about the various extracurricular activities he could choose from: volleyball club was amongst them and he thought he would give it a try when the schedule was put up.

All the classes he attended to that week were held in gigantic amphitheaters. All but one: he had decided to attend a Technical Drawing class because it reminded him of Daichi as it was recommended for Architecture students so he thought maybe he could do it and tell Daichi about it later. When he got to the classroom he noticed the small size immediately - small tables put together in rows of five where everyone would probably be way too close, hardly any windows, and only one exit door - but because it was pretty empty he thought he wouldn't have any trouble with it.  

As more people arrived the room became clustered and noisy, and increasingly warm. He started to feel his breathing becoming uneven. At first he didn’t take it as a big deal, he was in a closed hot environment, he was just panting, he thought. But he then started to notice how he felt his stomach tie itself in a knot, his throat seemingly smaller and when he realized what might be happening he felt his anxiety taking a hold of him. That time at Daichi's house was the last time he had actually thought "It might happen again" but it didn't even come close to what he felt right now. His hands started shaking like he hadn't seen them in years and his breathing was out of control. Trying to regularize it was not working so he knew it was time to get out of there. On his way out he heard someone asking if he was alright but he was in too much of a hurry to answer back.

Next thing he knew he was inside a stall sat on the bathroom floor. It wasn't ideal but it was the first thing he was able to think of. He knew his anxiety got worst during stressful times and it was associated with new environments most of the time so it wasn't as much of a surprise for him. He knew he needed help to calm down and there was no one he wanted to help him but Daichi. It was his soothing voice that he needed to hear. And he knew Daichi would know what to say. Even though Suga’s wasn’t a serious case of anxiety at all, it still was anxiety. It wasn’t frequent and it had been years since he had a panic attack, he didn’t even know Dachi back then. However, Daichi had been introduced to the problem by Suga’s parents when he started hanging out with Suga in their first year because they knew he trusted Daichi and they needed to know someone would be able to help him in case anything ever happened. HE was aware of what to do, what helped Suga, the meds, everything.

"Daichi." Suga said clearly out of breath when his boyfriend picked up.

"Suga, I thought we had agreed to only talk at the end of the day, you know I'm working.." Daich said unaware of the situation. Suga obviously didn't take it to heart.

“I'm sorry. But I really need for you to talk to me right now" He could feel his head spinning as a consequence of his unregularized breathing, and it showed through in his voice. Daichi picked it up almost immediately.

"Are you in a quiet place, Koushi?" He started. In these situations it always soothed Suga to be treated by his first name.

"I am."

"Great. I need you to know that even though this might seem scary it is not dangerous." He was trying to speak slowly keeping a rhythm in order to try to influence the way his boyfriend was breathing, "It is understandable that you feel like this. I'm right here for you and I'm not going anywhere, okay? What can I do to help you?"

"Do the thing where you count to five."

"1. 2." Every two seconds he said the next number "3. 4. 5." When he reached five he started over. "1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5."  After a while, on the other side of the line he could hear Suga's breathing, on the other side of the line, evening out.  "I'm really proud of you, Koushi. Do you feel better?"

"I do. I think I'm okay."

"Where are you? College?”

"Yes, I am."

"How fast can you get home? You should rest." Daichi said worried sick about Suga.

"If I get a cab I can be there pretty fast. But I think I'm okay now."

"I'm guessing you don't have your meds with you. Do you have any at home?" Daichi retorted ignoring Suga’s attempt at dismissing what had just happened.

"I do, my mom made me bring them." Even though he had barely ever had the necessity of taking, he normally had some with him, just in case he had a situation like this happen.

"Please go home, take them and just rest for a few hours. Can you do that? Just as a precaution, Koushi, please." His voice was soft as he said it and Suga knew he was right in worrying.

"I will, just don't worry too much about this. You can go back to work." Suga said apologetically.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier, babe. I love you. Can you call me when you get home? So I know you're safe." Suga adored how thoughtful Daichi always was towards him.

"I will. I love you. And thank you."

" **Anything for you** , dummy, you know that." They both hung up.

Suga picked himself up from the floor, exhausted and headed home. As soon as he got there he sent Daichi a text so he wouldn't disturb his work anymore. He knew Daichi would call as soon as he got the text.

He had hardly had the time to take his medicine and sit on the couch when someone rung the doorbell. _‘Who can it be?’, h_ e thought.

When he opened the door he was surprised by a sweaty Asahi, who looked like he had run there, with a pizza in his hands and some ingredients for god knows what.

"Daichi called you, didn't he?" Suga asked laughing.

"Daichi? Never heard of him!" Asahi retorted jokingly, "I just guessed you were in need of your favorite banana pizza and a freshly made soup!!" Suga smiled in return, happy to have such a great friend close by.

Asahi was probably the only person, other than Daichi and his family, who was aware of his anxiety; they knew each other long before Suga met Daichi, so Asahi had witnessed an episode or two.  
  
“How bad was it this time?" He asked a bit worried he might be over stepping the line.

"Pretty bad. It hadn't been this bad in a long time.." Asahi's face became troubled, "But I will be just fine, don't worry!!" Suga said when he noticed his friend’s expression. “I know you will!” Asahi answered encouraging him.

Asahi actually ended up sleeping over that night to make sure Suga was really okay, and Suga knew this was all his making; Daichi would never ask such a thing from anyone. 

When Daichi called back none of them mentioned Asahi even though Suga knew Daichi had sent him to his rescue and Daichi knew Suga knew.

*** 

At the end of the week, Suga sat down to write to Daichi the letter he’d promised. He’d figured that if he wrote it on Friday, it was sure to be delivered to his boyfriend by Monday so he would be able to cheer up the beginning of his week, and Daichi would do the same.

In his letter he included details on the night he spent with Asahi and how his visits to their apartment were almost daily because the two of them were going through the same situation: Asahi with Noya and, of course, Suga with Daichi. They had this kind of “we-miss-our-boyfriends” club as weird as it sounded and weren’t even ashamed of it. He also made sure to mention their search for a part-time job. Suga was very inclined to working in a book shop, conveniently close to College, that was always quiet and peaceful and had a beautiful patio on the back which made it easy to escape in case he felt the need to. He talked about how next year the two of them were going to have fun enjoying the open classes. He made a brief mention to the volleyball club which he was yet to try, swearing to keep Daichi posted on how that went. He already knew it was most likely not going to work out since just the thought of not having Daichi and the team by his side on court made him feel out of place; he didn’t say that to Daichi though: he knew how he would want for him to give it a real try. To conclude, he made sure to put all of Daichi’s worries related to his anxiety to sleep and let him know how much he missed him, which was a whole lot.

 

**_“I love you, babe. Don’t miss me too much,_ **

**_S. Koushi”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the fifth one is up! I hope you’re all still enjoying this!!!
> 
> I will try to maintain the schedule and post the next one on Monday (the 12th).
> 
> Also, how did everyone enjoy the start of the new season? I adored it!!! Can’t believe it’s finally here!!!!! ^^
> 
> Again, thank you all so much for keeping on reading this fic, it means a lot!!!!!


	6. Home Is Where The Heart Is

Daichi had been working for his parents for 2 months and a week or so. He felt exhausted, emotionally drained almost desperate to leave. Everyday he’d wake up as early as humanly possible in order to help his mother with chores around the house, since he’d been put in charge of the restaurant from 2p.m. to 11p.m. when it closed. The nights were always the busiest time around there and after it all the cleaning still had to be taken care of. He admired the effort his parents put into it all, but this wasn’t what he had planned for him. He couldn’t help but feel slightly gutted to have to be dragged into it the way he had been but he knew it was nobody’s fault and he blamed no one for it.

Over the course of the two months his grandmother’s condition had been getting worse and worse, which didn’t help the mood around the house and even around the restaurant. Doctors had given her a maximum of 2 months to live 3 months ago, so they were all ready for the worst. Daichi referred it in almost every letter he sent Suga: “Every day I kiss her goodbye as I leave to go to the restaurant as if I won’t see her again, and every night I kiss her goodnight the same way, just preparing for when the time comes..”, he had written in one of them, tears slowly rolling off of his cheeks and onto the paper, leaving marks on it that he wished Suga wouldn’t notice. It wasn’t a nice way to live, but the Sawamura family always pulled through.

***

Daichi’s Grandma ended up passing away on the 4th of December. After being hospitalized for more than a week, she gave in to the disease that had been consuming her for so long. She left peacefully, while she slept, without any pain. The Sawamura’s were given the news at 2 in the morning. Daichi didn’t feel like crying as much as he did then than when his grandfather passed. He didn’t though. His mother needed him to stay strong and so did his father and he didn’t cry until he was on the phone breaking the news to Suga. And he cried like he’d never cried before because this time Suga was miles away from him and he had no one he wanted to be held by more than his boyfriend. He didn’t want to talk to the team about it because even though they would support him, they would want to make him better, happier and he didn’t want that. He needed the one person he knew would just hold him, no questions asked, and let him get through it like he wanted to, which was crying and being sad and accepting the situation and finally putting it to the back of his mind where it wouldn’t hurt him so much.

The funeral was held two days later, and Suga wanted to accompany Daichi more than anything but he didn’t let him, because he had classes to attend. However, and even though the ceremony was small and closed to the family (aunts and uncles and cousins), the Sugawara’s were there. They didn’t know Daichi’s grandmother but Daichi had insisted in telling them himself he would like them to attend, only if they wanted to, of course, as he considered them closer family than some of his mother’s and father’s brothers and sisters. They went gladly and stood beside him during the ceremony. Suga’s father put his hand on Daichi’s shoulder as a sign of encouragement when he was called to give a few words about his grandmother. And even though Suga wasn’t there Daichi didn’t feel as lonely as he would have.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Sugawara hugged Daichi goodbye when the ceremony was over. They didn’t say the things his family did; they didn’t tell him to feel better, they knew that wasn’t do-able at the time. They offered their help in everything he might need instead, and not only to him, but to his parents. They dropped by his house with a cake Mrs. Sugawara had baked and called when they didn’t have the chance to do that. And Daichi thought to himself over and over again that after Suga’s voice over the phone, there were very few things that had been able to comfort him like knowing his boyfriend’s family was there for him.

***

Suga finished his classes on the 12th of December but had to stay one more week after that to prepare his next semester and exam season and end his shifts at the book shop. But Daichi could not possibly bare another week. The restaurant would be closed for the next month so there was no reason to stay home. Also there were very few things he desired more than getting away. One thing he wanted more was to be with Suga.

He missed how he felt when their lips touched or how Suga nestled to his side whenever they laid in bed together; he missed how their finger entwined oh so naturally and Suga’s hands. Suga’s hands where an whole thing of its own: Daichi liked drawing patterns in their palms and how the long slender fingers seemed to go on for miles; he never dared to say it, but he loved them more when their practices and games demanded more of them: the fingertips turned drier and calloused sometimes and altogether more rough, almost a shade darker than their usual snow white, and even though that didn’t match his angelic boyfriend, it gave his hands more character, almost made them feel more real in opposition to when they were as soft as one might imagine a cloud to be, “made in heaven”. But they hadn’t trained in months and that was okay: Daichi would plant as many kisses on them as he could and remember Suga to wear his gloves out because he knew how much he hated his skin breaking.

Daichi knew Suga was planning to come home on the twenty first for Christmas prepping and Christmas itself. It would be their first spent together, just as Daichi’s birthday and New Year’s would. This December was a month of first times.

***

Suga was ecstatic when he read Daichi’s letter that week. When he received it, a day earlier than usually, he was at first astonished at how short it was but upon reading it he had decided it was most likely one of his favorites yet:

**_“Dear Koushi,_ **

**_I miss you terribly and the thought of having to wait as much as one more week to see you again is unbearable, to say the least._ **

**_I’ll be arriving on the 14 th, so be ready! We’ll have this week to ourselves. Exciting, right?_ **

**_I love you, babe. See you tomorrow ^^_ **

**_Sawamura Daichi.”_ **

Enclosed was a picture of Daichi packing his bags with the widest, biggest smile on his face. Suga smiled at the thought of seeing Daichi again in just a few hours.

Nonetheless, he wanted to make sure Daichi wasn’t just playing. He usually didn’t play with such serious things but one never knows. Suga picked his phone up and dialed Daichi’s number.

“Is it true?” he asked first thing when his boyfriend picked up.

“What is?” Daichi answered playing it off as if he had no clue what was being talked about.

“Are you actually coming tomorrow?”

“What do you think, silly? Of course I am!!”

“For real?”

“For real.” Daichi couldn’t help but chuckle at Suga’s almost child-like excitement. It reminded him of Hinata during their practices whenever he hit one of Kageyama’s tosses and scored a point.

“When will you be arriving? I won’t be home in the morning. I had to take a shift tomorrow in order to go home a day early.”

“Probably around lunch time, a little later perhaps. I’ll call you as soon as I get there, okay?”

“Sure! I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then!” Suga said, joy in his voice.

“I love you, babe.”

“And I love you.”

***

For the first time in the last months, when Suga woke up the next morning he didn’t feel saddened for not finding Daichi by his side. He knew he would be holding him again in no time.

As he had gotten used to, he walked to the book shop while listening to his favorite playlist that consisted of Arctic Monkeys, Miles Kane and Jake Bugg which always cheered him up.

The early hours were very quiet in the book shop which made them, in Suga’s eyes, the most enjoyable. He would normally pick a book from of the many bookshelves and read it when no costumers were in the shop which was most of the time.

At around one o’clock he heard the “ding” sound the door made whenever someone entered the shop. For the first time he put his book down to greet and offer his service to whomever had arrived. However, when he looked towards the door he was left speechless: Daichi stood by the door with a bouquet of flowers. It was so unexpected Suga couldn’t seem to find a proper reaction to this event, so much so, he had even forgotten to take off his reading glasses, which he had got prescribed to him after the much dreaded trip to the optometrist. Daichi smiled at the sight of him in glasses (since Suga had always refused to send a picture due to how embarrassed he was about them) and only when he said “You look good in those.” did Suga remember to set them aside. He then ran up to Daichi and wrapped his arms around his neck, placing a light kiss on his lips on the process, and then resting his head on his boyfriends shoulder.

“I’m so happy that you’re finally here.” He was then able to mutter out. Daichi was only able to grab him at his waist with the arm that didn’t carry the flowers.

“And I’m very happy to be here.” Daichi replied. Suga pulled away from Daichi only enough to be able to get a good look at him. “Here, these are for you.” Daichi said giving the bouquet over to his boyfriend. “They’re blue irises, ‘for wisdom and valour’” he completed quoting the lady that had sold them to him.

“Why wisdom and valour?” Suga asked puzzled, “I mean I adore them, they’re beautiful, but why wisdom and valour?” He then added realizing it might seem ungrateful to ask such a thing.

“Yeah, it sounds kind of odd, right? I was going for the Calla Lilies which she said represent beauty and magnificence or even Zinnias, for constancy and lasting affection. Those describe you spot on, if you ask me.” Daichi said playfully. “But yesterday I went to the boy’s practice which made me think of you and your role in our team when I bought them before coming here.” Suga wasn’t surprised Daichi had put so much thought in something most people would dismiss as simple and unimportant. “I wish last year you had spent more time on the court, you know? You deserved more. When you stood by our side you never let us down. When it came to decision making you were always the bravest and wisest. You always knew what to do next, Koushi, and I feel like you aren’t aware of how valuable you were. I know you think you were outshone by Kageyama but, no way in hell, you were not. No one can outshine you.” Daichi flushed when he notice for how long he’d been rambling, “So that was it. There’s why.” He said after kissing Suga’s forehead.

“I love you.” Was the only answer Suga thought fitted the moment. But more than an ‘I love you’ this was a ‘Thank you for knowing how much I needed that.’ a ‘Thank you for actually saying it out loud.’, a ‘Thank for being all that I’ll ever need.’.

When they arrived at the apartment, after Suga closed the shop, he put the flowers in a vase on the dining room table – all the window sills were already covered in cactuses and other plants Suga had adopted over the course of the last months. They decided that today they would cook lunch together or, in all actuality, Daichi would cook and Suga would hand him the ingredients he needed.

The two hadn’t felt this happy since the last time they’d been together. Over lunch and during all of the afternoon they did nothing but talk to each other. Even though a day hadn’t gone by in which they didn’t talk, there seemed to be so much to talk about still.

Suga told Daichi how he sometimes saw members of the teams they played. He often ran into other captains who were now scattered along other Tokyo Universities.

“I actually got the chance to have lunch with Tetsurou the other day.”

“Tetsurou?!” Daichi said astonished “You call him by his given name? You don’t even call our teammates by their given name!!”

“Yes, I do!! Shut up! He insisted I did either way.. So..” Suga answered blushing.

“Oh my God! Has he been hitting on you? He HAS been hitting on you!!!”

“No, he hasn’t, come on, Daichi!!! We’re friends!”

“How come?! He’s from Nekoma!!!”

“Daichi, that’s childish! We aren’t in high school anymore!”

“Well, then what did the two of you besties talked about?” Suga had never seen Daichi be this jealous of anyone. He knew the two captains always had a certain rivalry obviously because of the two team’s “Battle at the Trash Dump”. However Suga found it cute so he didn’t think it was worth mentioning Tetsurou’s relationship with his setter Kenma just yet.

“Well, he’s still training with the team on the weekends. He goes back home every Friday and they have practice on Saturday. Apparently after the first few weeks the team wasn’t picking up the pace and Kenma – whom is the captain now – asked for his help. I really don’t see Kenma as the speech type of guy. But he’s got the hang of it now, according to Tetsurou.”

“That’s interesting. I can’t wait to see their games.” Daichi said clearly upset by his boyfriend’s new friendship but trying to play it cool.

They sat talking on the sofa until dinner time. Daichi made an effort to not ask any more details about Kuroo’s and Suga’s “lunch dates”, as he called them, even though he really wanted to know more.

“I’m hungry; let’s get some dinner on that pizzeria we like!” Suga said just as Daichi was also starting to feel hungry himself. However, he was playing hard to get because of the whole Kuroo thing.

“I don’t really feel like going out.” He said in protest. Suga knew what it was all about of course

“Oh really?” He said moving towards Daichi to lie on top of him. “They I’m going alone.” He whispered challengingly in his ear.

“You wouldn’t.” Daichi replied almost feeling intimidated by the look on Suga’s face.

“Or would I?”

“I wouldn’t let you.” Daichi said clinging on to Suga.

“Maybe this will make you come with me then..” Suga stopped for a second to get really close to Daichi’s lips without actually touching them. “Tetsurou..” Daichi rolled his eyes at the name, “..is dating Kenma.”

Daichi’s expression went completely blank at the words that came out of Suga’s mouth. Then a wave of embarrassment took over him, for actually having been jealous of Kuroo. Suga then went on to pressing his lips teasingly on Daichi’s and then pulling away to laugh at his lingering expression.

“I’m going to get my coat. Want me to bring yours?” He asked Daichi sticking his tongue out to him. “Yes, please.”, was all that Daichi was able to answer.

***

That night Suga slept better than he had in months. Feeling Daichi's body against his made him feel safe, secure and warmer. Since a young age, Suga always sought comfort in people that were close to him, mostly his parents, but know he knew he had found his comfort in Daichi. He was his safe place. When he held him closer, when he was around there was nothing else Suga needed.

Lying next to Suga, Daichi felt at home, more than he had those long months at the house he grew up in surrounded by his family. He never really believed it fully, but as he fell asleep that night, he thought _'Maybe home really is where the heart is.'._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the sixth one!! I hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> I have to give credit to http://meltedicecubes.tumblr.com/ (which you should all check out!) for the flowers type and meaning which I took from this post: http://meltedicecubes.tumblr.com/post/124717954411 .
> 
> I make a mention to the playlist Suga listened to on his was to the book shop, so I thought it was only right I posted it! It's here if you're interested: http://8tracks.com/amy_holmes/suga-s-playlist ^^
> 
> I’m finding it harder to conciliate classes with writing (which I hope isn’t too noticeable) but I still think I’ll be able to stick to the schedule!! So you can wait for the next chapter, next Monday (19th October), as usual!
> 
> As I have before, I have to thank you for the support and interest in this fic, which I greatly appreciate!


	7. Back With the Team

After a week of waking up early to go to work and getting back just in time to snuggle up with his boyfriend, who was still very much asleep, Suga was packing his bags to go back home. In just a few hours he’d be with his parents and his friends for the first time in around three months. With all the work he had to do and all he had to study, he hadn’t even noticed how much he wanted to go back. He came to realize that maybe he missed everything more than he thought.

Daichi was excited to go back, as well. He couldn’t wait to be with Suga the time he stepped out of the train or entered his house or saw his parents: he knew just how happy he’d be then and he just couldn’t wait. Also, they had arranged a program in which every day they would play with the rest of team: he knew Suga had probably only played a couple of times in all the time he was in Tokyo and none of those times with him and the boys, so he was looking forward to see him going through all the excitement of playing again.

***

They arrived in Miyagi at seven o’clock. Suga had slept for most of the ride, leaning against Daichi’s shoulder. The latter played with his boyfriend’s hair for most of the time to keep himself from falling asleep.

As soon as the two set foot on the platform, coming out of the train, they heard Suga’s parents screaming their names. Suga smiled when he was able to spot them, his mother already halfway running towards them. Daichi stepped away while she hugged her son, giving them some space, but soon after she called him into the embrace. After she let go, Daichi gave Mr. Sugawara a quick hug before he too hugged Suga. Suga had a smile so wide and beautiful spread across his face, Daichi felt like melting.

Of course, dinner was held at Suga’s house. Daichi stayed for the movie session until late at night, to the point where the Sugawara’s insisted he’d sleep over, but no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to because he knew the family hadn’t been together for the longest time and they’d want time to catch up and have much needed family time. He excused himself almost at midnight, promising to come back tomorrow.

“We promised the team we’d play with them tomorrow, so I’ll meet you here!” he said with a smile on his lips as he gave Suga a small kiss goodbye.

“Sure thing. I’ll see you tomorrow then! I love you.” Suga answered also smiling at the thought of finally playing again.

“Love you too.” Daichi said as he stepped out into the cold December air.

It hadn’t been five minutes since he’d left the Sugawara’s house when he received a text:

From: Koushi (12:27 a.m.)  
You should’ve stayed over. I might miss you too much ●︿●

To: Koushi (12:28 a.m.)  
I’m sure you’ll be just fine, babe. You can just come over if you miss me too much, anyway!!

From: Koushi (12:31 a.m.)  
Now, that you say that, I just might!

To: Koushi (12:35 a.m.)  
I really hope you’re not serious about this. That’s the sleep talking. Go to bed.

From: Koushi (12:36 a.m.)  
I know where the keys are after all, it wouldn’t be that hard!!

To: Koushi (12:38 a.m.)  
Suga, I’m being serious!!! Don’t do it!! (If you do, wake me up before you come in so I can see you try to explain my parents what the hell you’re doing coming into their house this late at night.)

Suga didn’t answer after that. _‘I knew he’d fall asleep.’_ Daichi thought to himself, smiling.

***

The morning after, Suga woke up later than he ever remembered waking up. It was close to one o’clock when he went downstairs. To his surprise, Daichi was sitting in the living room couch flipping through a book. When he heard his footsteps he turned around.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty! Thought I’d have to go and wake you up!!” he said getting up to give Suga a kiss.

“Well, that’d be a first!” Suga said teasing him “What are you doing here already? I thought we weren’t going out until after lunch...”

“The boys wanted to have lunch together and invited us to go. After all, it is Kageyama’s birthday!”

“Oh my god, I completely forgot!! I’ll go get ready!” Suga said hurriedly.

“You know, I could help you...” Daichi murmured playfully looking at Suga.

“Not now, Daichi, you have the worst timing!! We’re already late!!!” Suga answered already running halfway up the stairs. He did not enjoy being late.

“Well, so-rry!” Daichi retorted slightly annoyed at the rejection.

It didn’t take long for Suga to get ready, so the two headed out holding hands to walk to Kageyama’s. Even though it was winter the sun was in the sky and there were no rain clouds to be seen. Either way, big coats and scarfs were a must, but that hadn’t stopped the boys from wearing shorts and t-shirts underneath several layers of clothes just so they could play volleyball.

When they finally arrived at Kageyama’s, all the team was already there. Suga apologized incessantly for being so late but no one cared about how late they were: the boys all gathered around him waiting for their turn to hug him once Hinata did. They all expressed how much they had missed not having him around, even Tsukishima, who complained about how Captain Ennoshita couldn’t control Hinata and Kageyama’s fights nearly as fast as he and Daichi could. He felt like he could cry out of pure joy for being reunited with all of them and seeing how much they had actually missed him. He was almost overwhelmed by the feeling of happiness that took over him and Daichi could tell that from his face. When he did, he put his arm around Suga to let him know he was okay and incited everyone to start eating.

Over lunch, they all got to catch up: to absolutely no one’s surprise, and certainly not to Suga’s, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had started dating not too long ago, and Hinata and Kageyama still stood strong; Tanaka complained about how it was almost depressing seeing Nishinoya always looking at his phone waiting for Asahi to call him. This made Asahi blush and Noya completely owned up to it, as expected.

Once lunch was over they all grabbed their jackets to go to Karasuno High School. Ennoshita had gotten permission from the director to use the gymnasium for training over the holidays, so they were going to play again in the gymnasium they were so accustomed to.

The most difficult part was deciding on the teams for the game. Much to Suga’s surprise everyone wanted him to be their setter; it was almost as if prodigy setter, Kageyama Tobio, wasn’t on the other side of the net waiting for someone to be on his team. To make things a little easier, Daichi suggested the setters chose their teams. Suga was the first to pick. He thought that ever since choosing what college to attend to, this was probably the hardest decision he had ever had to make. He was going to pick Daichi first, obviously, but then he saw Hinata in the back jumping all over the place waving his hands at him to be chosen. He was aware of how good Kageyama and Hinata’s quick was, but he wanted to see how Kageyama would do without his weapon on his side of the court.

“Hinata!” He said pointing at the boy in the back “You’re in my team.” Hinata jumping in happiness contrasted with the faces of shock in the room, and Kageyama’s frown. After this stab in the back, Kageyama knew exactly who he wanted on his team.

“Sawamura.” He said looking directly at Suga. The latter responded with a defying smile. He’d be lying if he wasn’t excited to play against those two.

“Asahi.” Suga knew he would need a good attack to go through Daichi, and he was glad about that choice once he heard Kageyama’s next choice.

 “Nishinoya.”. Hinata wasn’t one to mess with even if Kageyama wasn’t the one setting to him, so he had to invest on the defence.

“Ennoshita.” Suga needed Tsukishima on his side, but he was going to leave him for last because he knew Kageyama would never pick him, which gave him the chance to get other crucial elements.

“Yamaguchi.” Upon hearing his name being called before Tsukishima’s and by Kageyama, Yamaguchi blushed. Kageyama knew he could get advantage from his now improved serve.

“Kinoshita.” Suga was pleased to have two of the fastest players in his team.

“Narita.”

“Tsukishima.”

“Tanaka.”

In the end the game would be an offense versus defence show down. Kageyama’s team – Daichi, Nishinoya, Yamaguchi, Narita and Tanaka – playing defence and Suga’s – Hinata, Asahi, Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Tsukishima – playing offense.

The first set was the hardest for Suga: it seemed as if his arms and hands wouldn’t respond to his commands, clearly due to the lack of practice over the last few months. But he hadn’t forgotten how each of his spikers liked their tosses – he just wasn’t being able to pull them off as he normally would. Because of his reduced number of well-placed tosses, Kageyama shone in that set. It was clear he’d been working hard to get to know his team mates preferences. The spikes were accurate, more than they’d ever been, even though the only designated wing spikers in Kageyama’s team were Daichi and Tanaka. This impressed Suga even though he had always had full trust that Kageyama would make it. Hinata pouted when the opposing team won, giving his boyfriend an annoyed look; Daichi gave Suga a challenging look. _‘Bad call’_ , Suga thought, _‘We’ll get the next one.’_

From the start, the second set went a lot better for Suga’s team. By then he had gotten the hang of it and his tosses, even though not as accurate as Kageyama’s , were having the desired effect on the opposing team. Asahi’s spikes were going right through Daichi’s defence (and from time to time, Noya’s) and Hinata’s were hitting the wall of blockers on the other side – Kageyama, Yamaguchi and Narita –, when Suga wasn’t fast enough, but were just strong enough to fall behind them; when Suga was able to match Hinata’s speed, and since the latter now spiked with his eyes open, not even Nishinoya’s was able to get to them in time. By the end of the set, it was Kageyama who pouted at Hinata. Suga on the other hand wasn’t as subtle as Daichi had been.

“How about it?” He shouted to the other side of the court smiling “I’ll beat you, Sawamura!!”

“I’m waiting!!” Daichi shouted back.

Tanaka sighted loudly “Oi! This ain’t about the two of you!”. Everybody laughed at the comment.

The third set was the longest yet. They went to 35-37. They were all exhausted but no one wanted to call it a tie. Someone seeing it from the outside would probably think each team hated the other. Everyone had their game faces on and the tension was palpable. All of this was due to everyone really wanting to win the first game they played against each other in months; everybody wanted the others to see what they had to show. In the end, Kageyama’s team ended up succeeding after one of Yamaguchi jump float serves that no one on the other side had any chance of receiving. After a moment of silence after the ball hit the ground, everybody cheered for Yamaguchi. Everyone gathered around him some faster than others: Tsukishima, trying to play it cool, stayed behind. As Suga walked by him he heard a very quiet “That’s my boy” coming from in-between his teeth.

“Did I hear you say something?” Suga said smiling as he patted Tsukishima’s back, which seemed to startle him.

“Uhm... I... No!! Nothing!” he rushed to say, a hint of red spreading across his cheeks.

***

On the way back to Kageyama’s home everyone, besides Suga and Daichi, was complaining about how tired they were... The two felt revived after playing with the team, Suga was actually considering joining his University volleyball club, forgetting that the reason why he hadn’t was the fact that the boys weren’t there with him.

The team ate dinner together at Kageyama’s house and sang him “Happy Birthday” once they finished. They all decided that the next few days it’d be better to play in the morning because some of them had things planned with their families or places they needed to be. Christmas would be there in no time, and a lot of things had to get done. Everybody promised that the next few games wouldn’t be as serious as the first one. After the goodbyes each of them headed their way.

Suga and Daichi walked together, as always, and talked about how proud they were of the team. Daichi was most impressed with Kageyama and Yamaguchi and Suga shared the same opinion. After discussing the whole progress of the team, Suga decided to change the topic:

“You’re staying over tonight, right?” he said smiling at his boyfriend to make it impossible for him to resist.

“Suga... I don’t want to intrude on you and your parents; you haven’t been with them in so long!”

“Well, I’m not going to sleep with them, am I? Come on, why are you like this?” Suga was not giving up today.

“Well... Either way!!” Daichi didn’t even know why he was fighting it. He knew he would eventually give in to his boyfriend’s wishes (and his own).

“Yesterday, I missed you so much...”

“I bet you did” Daichi laughed at him “All the fifteen minutes you were awake after I left... It must’ve been hard!!” Suga was pouting at him.

“I hate you!!” he said as he began walking faster “You do what you want, I’m going home!” Suga couldn’t even keep a straight face through the whole sentence, looking forward to hide his face when he felt a smile taking over his expression

“Okay, if you insist this much! I’ll stay over.” Daichi finally gave in.

“Thank you!” Suga said going back to where his boyfriend was to kiss him. “I love you~!”

“I know, silly.”

When they got home, Suga’s parents were already asleep. Even though noise had to be kept to a minimum Suga still went to the kitchen to make some tea, while Daichi took a shower, because he knew how he liked to drink it before bed. When he brought it upstairs Daichi was just finishing putting on some clothes, sat on the bed.

“Made you some tea, even though you don’t deserve it for not wanting to stay over!” he said as he came into the room.

“Oh come on... Don’t be mean!”

“I’m not, I made you tea!” Suga laughed, as he sat down beside Daichi.

“Oh my God, you’re such a dork...” Daichi said putting an arm around Suga “I love you... you know that, right?” he finished, the tone of his voice sounding more serious.

“Of course I do! Are you going to get sentimental?” Suga knew Daichi couldn’t help having his romantic/sentimental moments, and the tone of his voice was a clear sign it was about to happen.

“What do you mean?” Daichi answered blushing “No! I mean, I was just thinking...”

“Here we go!” Suga said playfully, laughing at Daichi “Why don’t you wait until were both in bed? Finish your tea and well talk about whatever it is you’re getting feelings for.” He mocked.

“You’re the worst. I take it back, I hate you.”

“Right, right.” Suga murmured as he placed a kiss on Daichi’s cheek, whilst getting up to have a shower.

When Suga got back into the room, Daichi had already gotten himself into bed and was staring up at the ceiling, probably thinking about what they were about to discuss. As he saw Suga come in, he immediately made room for him in the bed, pulling the covers up so he could get under them as well. Suga laid on his side, beside him putting an arm across Daichi’s torso and resting his head on his chest, Daichi’s arm around him. After a moment he asked:

“What did you want to talk about, then?”

“Christmas is in two days, right?” Daichi started.

“Yep. My parents are already expecting you to spend it with us... You don’t have to though; I know you probably want to spend it with your parents!”

“That’s what I wanted to talk about... I want to spend it with my parents but I want you to be with me... And... I know you don’t like my parents that much...”

“That’s not it, babe, you know that!” Suga interrupted. Daichi’s parents had never been the most welcoming people. They were good people, and really tried to be nice, but Suga never felt too welcome when he was with them, because he knew how judgemental they could be which made him slightly uncomfortable.

“I know they’re not too nice... And I’m sorry for that...” Daichi had lost count as to how many times he had felt the need to apologize to Suga for his parents even though he knew Suga understood, “But you know... They’re my family and this is our first Christmas together... And it would make me really happy if you didn’t mind spending Christmas with us...”

“Of course I don’t, I’ll be there! I’ll do **anything for you** , you know that.” Suga answered hugging Daichi a little tighter. “And after all, I will have to bond with your parents at some point… If this is going to last.” He added letting out a small laugh. Daichi couldn’t help but smile at that thought.

“So I was thinking: Since your parents do the thing of having a big dinner on the 24th and opening the presents once it’s midnight, we’d do that here, and on the morning of the 25th we could open the presents at my house, and have lunch there. Sounds good?”

“Sounds brilliant. It’s going to be fun. I can’t wait!” Suga said moving up just enough to reach Daichi’s lips.

“Thank you for doing it, Koushi. I love you.”

“And I love you.” Suga answered kissing Daichi.

***

The next morning Suga was the first to wake up. He looked at his mobile to check the time. There was still time until they had to get up. When he looked at Daichi he couldn’t bring himself to disturb his sleep. The first rays of sunlight were starting to come in through the window, illuminating the inches of Daichi’s skin that they were touching. _‘If he could see himself now, he’d never doubt himself again.’_ Suga thought. He felt like the luckiest person in the world to be able to wake up next to that boy.

He caressed his boyfriend’s cheek and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I love you, I love you, I love you.” He whispered as quietly as something can be said out loud. “I will always love you.”

Lying there, looking at Daichi, Suga knew: there’s was nothing he’d rather do for the rest of his life than spending every moment by Daichi’s side. And that’s what he thought about as he drifted back to sleep, holding Daichi’s hand in his. _‘I love you’_

The two ended up not meeting the team to play that morning. When the alarm went off Daichi turned it off and pulled Suga closer to him.

“Let’s not go today.” He whispered in his ear.

“Let’s not” Suga agreed sleepily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the seventh chapter!! I feel like this one turned out a bit messy, but time is not something I have a lot of at the moment! I hope you guys enjoyed it nonetheless!
> 
> Thank you once again for all of the support! It means so, so much!
> 
> This time I won't be promising anything in terms of the coming out of the next chapter, and I'm really, really sorry about that. Like I said, time is not on my side... The next few weeks are going to be hard for me, because of tests and what-not, which is why I can't afford to compromise in a date for the next chapter. 
> 
> I hope you understand! I will be posting as soon as I possibly can and once exam season is over I’ll get back on track!!


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